The Function of the Will.—Concerning the function of the will there can be no
haziness or doubt. Volition concerns itself wholly with acts, responses. The will
always has to do with causing or inhibiting some action, either physical or
mental. We need to go to the dentist, tell some friend we were in the wrong, hold
our mind to a difficult or uninteresting task, or do some other disagreeable thing
from which we shirk. It is at such points that we must call upon the will.
Again, we must restrain our tongue from speaking the unkind word, keep from
crying out when the dentist drills the tooth, check some unworthy line of
thought. We must here also appeal to the will. We may conclude then that the
will is needed whenever the physical or mental activity must be controlled with
effort. Some writers have called the work of the will in compelling action its
positive function, and in inhibiting action its negative function.
How the Will Exerts Its Compulsion.—How does the will bring its compulsion
to bear? It is not a kind of mental policeman who can take us by the collar, so to
speak, and say do this, or do not do that. The secret of the will's power of control
lies in attention. It is the line of action that we hold the mind upon with an
attitude of intending to perform it that we finally follow. It is the thing we keep
thinking about that we finally do.
On the other hand, let us resolutely hold the mind away from some attractive but
unsuitable line of action, directing our thoughts to an opposite course, or to some
wholly different subject, and we have effectually blocked the wrong response.
To control our acts is therefore to control our thoughts, and strength of will can
be measured by our ability to direct our attention.
2. THE EXTENT OF VOLUNTARY CONTROL OVER OUR ACTS
A relatively small proportion of our acts, or responses, are controlled by volition.
Nature, in her wise economy, has provided a simpler and easier method than to
have all our actions performed or checked with conscious effort.
Classes of Acts or Response.—Movements or acts, like other phenomena, do
not just happen. They never occur without a cause back of them. Whether they
are performed with a conscious end in view or without it, the fact remains the
same—something must lie back of the act to account for its performance. During
the last hour, each of us has performed many simple movements and more or
less complex acts. These acts have varied greatly in character. Of many we were
wholly unconscious. Others were consciously performed, but without feeling of